Did You Know?
Many believe Notre Dame band director Ken Dye is the heir apparent to Art Bartner. This no doubt rankles quite a few of you reading this, but that is probably because you did not realize Dye attended USC and is respected for the job he has done at Notre Dame.
He is also perfectly suited because the Notre Dame band sits in the end zone at Notre Dame Stadium, so he won't need to go through any adjustments.
Stick to the news Scott. Your stand up routine is L A M E.
Ken Dye Ph.D was at USC when ART arrived. As a graduate student it was his idea to come on the field for pre-game marching to Tribute to Troy. Before that Art wanted to do the Midwest band thing of running on the field. Art and Ken have a very good relationship.
Ken was at Rice prior to going to Notre Dame. The Rice Owl band was an Ivy League style band. I think he wend to Notre Dame sometime in the late 90's.
Nonetheless, while Ken coming back to USC seems logical and a very high quailty choice. I don't think it will happen.
Haha Scott,
You are so funny. You should quit your job and be a comedian.
Except that the Spirit of Troy will at least be on the stands in the sun deck, whereas the ND band spends the whole game ducking Brady Quinn's errant passes and trying to kneel down below the brick wall that surrounds the field so as not to obstruct the fans' views of the game.
Keep trying to get everyone riled up on the band issue, Scott. Sure, it's not ideal that the band has to move, but they had better seats than 99% of the college bands. It's not the end of the world.
This know (NO) doubt - come on Wolfie!
Great news if all is correct!!
Man, that's cold =)
Hilarious.
Thanks for the scoop. I enjoy the irish band. the show on the steps of Bond Hall (?) is always nice.
is dr bartner thinking of retiring?
If a legendary Bruin player can become a fixture on the coaching staff (Norton), then having a former Domer employee lead the band shouldnt be a shock to anyone.
In my book, Norton is a chump who played for all teams any LA native would despise: UCLA, the Forty Whiners and Cowboys. 'Eff 'em!!
What about Tony Fox?? He has been a loyal and vital part of the Trojan Marching Band for over 20 years..........He is my choice as successor for Dr. Bartner !!!!!!!!!!
In my book, USC_89 is a chump who loves to complain about everything. Eff' em!
Stop being such a little baby usc_89.
Tony Fox is an associate director who is an amazing arranger and not-too-shabby composer but he is by no means capable of running the entire program. Not a knock against him but if the TMB is going to maintain its style, reputation and class, a new director would have to be fired up the way Art is. I'm not even sure Dye would do a good job. We used to talk about Dye all the time in the band - he was a good trombonist while in the TMB - but other than that, you can see his product on the field. The TMB has changed and changed again since Dr. Dye left. I think Art's successor will have to be one of his currently high-powered TA's. Hopefully, part of his retirement includes being actively involved in hiring any incoming director. Fight on!
Tony Fox...NFW, as said before a great arranger, the "Norm Chow" of the band staff, but not the head honcho.
Ken Dye....Art told me Ken is too old.
ART is 66 years old. Been there for 36 years, still has a lotta energy. But sooner or later he's going to retire. Nobody knows when. They wre taling about his retirement 10 yrs ago.
It's amazing that this guy started when McKay was coach and has been there for 5 Football Nat'l Championships and endured Tollner and Hackett along the way.